McCain is better than his campaign

Have you read the news reports about what has been going on at McCain and Palin rallies? In the last few weeks, as Obama has gained in the polls, the McCain campaign has ratcheted up character attacks on Obama in interviews, campaign ads, and at campaign rallies. Palin has said repeatedly that Obama “pals around with terrorists.” McCain has said things like “who is the real Barack Obama?” Basically they are/were trying to scare people or at the very least make people question whether or not they can trust Obama with the presidency, not because of his policies, but because of his character.

It may be working too well. Here’s why. Many people were already predisposed to be afraid of Obama without any help from the McCain campaign. He is the first African American with a real shot at being president, he has a “funny” Middle Eastern name, his father was from Kenya and was raised Muslim, he has a pretty liberal voting record in the Senate, his pastor is highly controversial, and he is relatively new on the national stage. Add to that the fact that the far right has been spreading outright lies about him for at least 18 months. (You know, that he is Muslim, doesn’t salute the flag, was sworn in on the Koran, that he is a Manchurian Candidate funded by terrorists and/or communists, blah, blah, blah)

At a rally a couple of days ago, a man stood up and said he was really afraid of an Obama presidency. McCain defended Obama saying he was a decent person and you did not need to be afraid of him. The crowd loudly booed. At the same rally, another woman stood up and said that Obama was an Arab. McCain had to take the mike from her. He corrected her, once again referring to Obama as “decent”.

At a rally the day before a man angrily said Obama was a socialist, McCain did not correct him, but said he understood that Americans were angry. At a rally today, an evangelical preacher gave an invocation in which he called upon God to protect His own reputation by not letting Obama win. Also today, at a Palin rally, someone held up a Curious George doll that had an Obama campaign pin on it. Palin’s rallies have actually been worse than McCain’s with several audience members shouting “terrorist”, “traitor”, “off with his head”, and in one instance “kill him” when she mentioned Obama by name. She has addressed none of that from the podium.

All of this to say, McCain is a better man than the campaign he is running at the moment. Fortunately, I think he is starting to realize that the combination of him slipping in the polls and his new campaign strategy is causing things to get out of hand. He genuinely seemed surprised and dismayed when people wouldn’t stop booing when he called Obama “decent”. Unfortunately, he may have unwittingly stoked a fire that is quickly burning out of his control.